NO POLL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 14, 17 January 1940, Page 9

NO POLL.

WATER SCHEME. CITY'S "URGENT NEED" EXPENDITURE OF £225,000. BOARD OF HEALTH INQUIRY. "I'liring life rceelil lmi weather • !i" i-iiii>unipl inn iif water lui- c>m-iderabl'. ill' ii-ii-eil .in.l actually e\ceeilei| ill,I I.iItHMMMi m H ||,,ii mark daily for ( l c"ii-e itne ,l;i\ -," -aid Mr. .1. A. v'. \M mi. cliairlll.i'l o| I lie Public Servi-.-e-. Comin lice of t lit- AiickUiiid City ( oumi.'. 11l I In , mill -e of e\ idellce this inoi ni'i.u l'ef'HT ii cominitlee of :hr Itnanl <•'' lie.ill li, wliicli was set up to consider ill.' conn. 11 V- prupoMtl (o horrow C-2-2.~i.imni I'"' imi"'" , * , "'- I" its wiiti'r Mippl.s ry-teiii u it him I t m kin-, a poll of the ra'ej.ii \ i-i ~. Tlie i-oiiimi'-ee cuii>i-ts ~f tile ll.m. ■'■ Alexander. M.1..C. as c-liiiiriuan. Mr. I'. \V. M.icl/'iiii, civil engineer of We! I'lij! ■ -i'"l IT. T. I.". Iliiehii', of tin lli'.aih Department. Mr. K. A. Dnbbif is cecicidi y. The propo.al lias bc-.i iipproved li.\ the CoViMiiment Loaiw llom-tl. which liar iKcd :i term of :i(| iear-. » itli intcrr-t at 4| per cent and a -inking I'liud of -1 |ier cent. Nn objec limn weie rec'Mved by the City vV.uneil i<, its pioposMl. The hoard of Hen Itli i-i----i|lliry «;i-- iii-lituted In njje the council .in uppori unity tn justify llk- e\[ienditiiii.. lor health reasolin. Growing Demand. Mr. Alluill etliil that, for some time |«i-t. pin ticiilarly during the hist two wiii>. I lie City Council had been advim-d by it- waterworks eujriiieer, Mr. A. I). Mead, of the urgent need for providing iiddiliomil en|iithl moneys to cope with the growing demand for water, and it Imd become inciea«liifrly evident that the po-iiiou, if not dealt with poom, Would become acute from the point of view of public lirulth. To provide. Hcnirity ngaiiist iuU'rruptiou of supply iind to siifc"iiard the ipmlity of the wHtcr it whs estimated that work at a heavy cost beyond tho present ability to provide from revenue, would

l>o necessary. It wae therefore resolved l>y the- council to make application for sanction to raise £225,000 covering the following schedule of work?: — Distribution mains from Ponsonby, Khyber Paee and Mount Eden reservoirs, £ 71,720. KxteiMton and improvements to reticulation, £30,000. Remodelling and additions to pumping .-tation, £2500. .Service reservoirs, £80,000. Filtration and Veiituri meters, X 12,f100. Land mid headwoikx, £2<">,000. J-*'jrnl and other costs in connection with loan, £3180. Insufficient Storage. The City Engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, said Auckland fthoiild have sufficient eturuge. in itn service reservoir* at all times to supply not Icm than two days' maximum demand. Swum cities were fortunate in having eeveral week* , supply right within their boundaries. The total storage capacity of all the council , * service reservoir* was 24,000,000 gallon* and the maximum daily requirements approached 15,000,000 gallons. This, showed definitely that there was insufficient etorago to meet a contingency such hh a major interruption in tlio supply, he said. Even with the provision made in the propound under connideration it would bo realised that there would be no margin to provide for normal development. Several of the reticulation main* were too small to eupply the quantity required for consumption during hot weather. Obviously when the pipes were made large enough the consumption would bo appreciably increased. The present margin in tho city's ecrvice reservoirs would rapidly • liminash in the near future. Therefore, unless restriction* were to be introduced -which wan not in the interest of health—additional ecrvice reservoir** inu.-*t be provided. Industry Not Supplied. M;iiiy mains in the older parts of the city liud been down f>o to ISO years, continued Mr. Tyler. Tlie development that had taken place, particularly along the waterfront and reclamation*, was such Hint the main* could not actually supply tho normal demands of industry. for example, on numerous occasions, oversea* liner* requiring 2"»0,0u0 gallons had .-ailed with only half that supply on board owing to the niaine not being it bio to deliver the qimniity required. When uny scrioiw fire occurred it had been found thut not only was the presume poor but the mains had actually been emptied, leaving little or no water Mipply for domestic and other ueers on certain streets. This wae ecrious for tho citizens and called not only for the replacement of old mains, but the connecting up of "dead ends" in the reticulation system to ensure a complete circulatory system and the prevention of any cessation in the- eupply for domestic purposes. There had, ho proceeded, been con--iiJeral.lf development ill the suburb?, mill while continual reticulation work had been dono out of revenue, feeder minim had not been correspondingly eiibir-ed. "Tin; proposal* under review lire undoubtedly part of the orderly and progrcß«ive development of a eupply service which c»n rightly be styled as to the health, life and progress ><( the Dominion's largeet city," conliidod Mr. Tyler.

Bird's-eye View. : A birds eye view of the city'e w »t*r >u,,j,lv »y et cm was given by f hc *uVI ««tcrwi,rk. engineer Mr. /. £. Mead rho Western brings supply Wa , not supplied from thc city's extern ave" • jpd 10.334,000 gallon* per da™ rUil to u peak ot 13,1)00,000 gallons. The estimated population supplied was jMUMO, ami the average daily consump turn per head (14.15 gallons. The total n«th of rotiiulation and feeder main M thy city was 340 mile*. The llum . km- of service connections to consumers Wii« not known accurately, but was estimated t.. ho in the vicinity of 30,000 excluding outside districts. T» .Mr. Stai.to.,, Mr. Jload said that il iiH-rcawtl consumption continued it would | H . p o , B ibl u lo a nanee the |>o-ea scheme without an imreased Nw'ter rate, provided the work was -plead over three years and there were !'", ""■';•"-■' •—'s from cireu.u-tances •'•-I under tlie city's control, mu-Ii for MixtimiT, a, u rise in the cost of ,uate■"•l* uwinj. to the war and increased wiijtcs brought about by new awards. Asked by Mr. McLean when the council wa, likely to draw water from Huntiii, Mr. Mea<l said it was a dillieult i i|llc.«tion. Soulier or later. possibly w it bin li\c or ten years, additional MipI'lies would be required, but at present ''"' eouiiiil was eonlining itself to urjjeul livces.-ilif.s. Fire Fighting. Mr. (I. A. Mackenzie, depiity-euperin-ten,lent of the (.eiilral Fire Brigade, .said that in the opinion of the lire lighting authorities, there was an inadequate sii|i|dy of water in certain areas of the city, especially in relation to major outbreaks. -Mr. Tyler, recalled, said that in the event of a aeries of Urea taking place, the demand* on tlie supply of water could be such a* to positively endangvr the health of t'ne community owing to the lack of sufficient supply for domestic iuirpo.es. Dr. Hubert Smith, Medical Ofiicer of Health, Auckland, said that a city's water supply should include three main points—safety, pulatability and adeHiiacy. The Health Department was of • •pinion that the greater thc storage capacity of the city reservoirs, the greater the safety against accidental typhoid affection.

The. committee adjourned at 1 p.m. until a date to b<: lixed. In the meantime the members will inspect the Hutuiil supply area.